Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a infant.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an associated murder trial.
Two men have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as investigations proceeded.
Coroner Findings
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was formally recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, making or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums across the world.
They released five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK.
The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the popular charts.
They disbanded promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
